Teflon? Cast iron? Aluminum?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

Given your druthers, which is your favorite to cook on?

I have this old, but perfect cast iron skillet, deep enough for a casserole, that makes the best sunny side up, as well as any other dish.
Teflon out-gassing bothers me.
Aluminum? never heats evenly.

[Debau2005]

1. I am from the DEEP south

prefer cast iron. My set has been handed down for generations. My grandmother gave me a lesson on how to care for them before she gave them to me.

Besides I am not to bright in the kitchen and usually forget and use a fork or knife and ruin any teflon I have. Then that makes me nervous that it will flake and kill me so I through the pan away.

[Lochloosa]

4. I rescued mine from the flea market.

It took a little bit to get them "seasoned". I won't cook with anything else.

[Talismom]

18. What invariably ruins my Teflon stuff is that it can't be used on

high heats. I always forget after a while and then the non-stick quality just dies. Except for how heavy they are, I think the cast iron is fantastic--we especially love our big pancake griddle!

[madokie]

2. Cast Iron

but since we bought a smooth top electric, the little lady won't let me use them. I think she might have given them away, as I don't see them anymore. I don't like teflon or aluminum. My preference is baked enamel on steel.

[BlueEyedSon]

3. aluminum makes me nervous (alzheimers, etc)

i use mostly stainless clad, iron and very rarely non-stick (but not teflon... for omlets and such, no metal utensils on that surface)

[Arkansas Granny]

5. Cast iron. It's heavy and requires a little care, but I just love it.

My daughter refers to my cast iron as "Mom's teflon". Best thing in the world for slow, even cooking, IMO.

Recently discovered cooking with a dutch oven and have turned out some really fine dishes in the back yard and camping and had fun doing it.

[madokie]

6. Well seasoned and used cast iron is better than teflon for non-stick

but only get to use them now for camping.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. my honey loves stainless clad, which is fine, but once I showed her

how saute-ing with cast worked so much better, I even convinced her. When we cook together, it is a race for the cast iron stuff. She leaves all omelets to me.

How do you best season your cast iron?

my recipe - thoroughly scrub and clean off all manufacturing oils, rust and get to the metal.
Turn on stove, set it at 325 or low. Dry the cast iron by putting it on the grill and boiling the last of the water off. Let it cool enough to touch.
Take a paper towel, and add a lot of olive oil, not corn! ! ! and cover the entire surface with the oil. Place the cast iron in the stove for 2 hours.
Remove and let cool. Wash gently with a cloth and soap and air dry. Repeat with oil and oven for another two hours.

The more you use it, the better it is. NEVER use a harsh wire scrubber on it, or you will have to reseason.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. I always use a pure vegetable shortening like Crisco to season

mine, but I use the same basic procedure that you do. I always found vegetable oil to leave a gummy residue, but I have never tried olive oil. I periodically reseason mine by drying them on the stove over low heat, rubbing with shortening and then allowing to cool before I wipe off the excess.

[Robb]

7. Stainless clad

Tough when you need it, delicate at other times, good even heat. Plus you don't look like Popeye after cooking with it for 30 years. ;)

[madokie]

8. I have a question, which do you like best, gas. electric or wood

I like electric, I can taste gas in the food. I know your going to think I'm crazy but a few years back we had to use a gas stove for a couple months, we were all glad to see the gas go.

[BlueEyedSon]

11. Gas... temp changes are instant. Unless you have holes in your pans

the gas flame will never touch the food

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. much prefer gas. You don't smell or taste it

unless your burners are screwed up and not burning properly . In that case, you have a potentially explosive situation.

Still, camping out with my honey, with a half moon, thousands of stars, and building a fire, watching the embers glow and dance, then putting on a cast-iron pot and slow cooking your food on red hot coals, sipping a nice white wine, thinking about how grand the universe is and how screwed up our planet seems, something about that taste is truly fantastic.

[BlueEyedSon]

15. in that case, turkey hot dogs boiled in beer in ALU foil tastes great!

i speak from experience

[ChairmanAgnostic]

23. uh, is that the only use for the beer? So sad. . . .

ever try young sweet corn on cast iron skillet? , soak it in the husk for 1-2 hours, then turn it over and over until the outside has browned. serve with a dash of Japanese sea salt.

[madokie]

17. after eating off electric for years, when we used gas you could

definitly taste the gas, I'm sorry. nothing wrong with stove either.

[Greyhound]

20. there's a reason no fine restaurants ever use electric, it is too

inaccurate and slow to change temperature. Electric is fine for heating frozen food, but not suited for real cooking.

[Burma Jones]

22. Gas, Blue Star Range

18,000 BTUs and a handy configuration for Wok use......

[ET Awful]

44. If given a choice, gas. Currently, I have one of the new-fangled

ceramic/flat surface electrics, and it works pretty darn good. I'd like to try one of those induction stoves. Supposed to be some pretty cool stuff.

[Kali]

55. Gas, but wish I had a wood stove in the kitchen

I have friends both here and in Mexico that use wood in the winter. One year we had Thanksgiving at a remote ranch "camp" and the Turkey was so unbelievably good - baked slow like a regular oven but with a touch of woody/bbq smoke taste. Yummmmmmm

They are still made and not that hard to learn to cook on. And I was surprized how LITTLE fuel they actually take.

[Coyote_Bandit]

9. Enameled cast iron n/t

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. Cast iron...can even make bread in it.

I've got 8 100+ year old skillets, that were my husband's great great grandmother's. I cook in them every day and wonder just how many different meals they've seen...from Tenessee...to Kentucky...to Michigan. :hi:

[Arkansas Granny]

16. How I envy you. All of my cast iron I started with new and I can

see how it improves with use over time. The cooking surfaces of yours must be as smooth as glass.

[ScreamingMeemie]

40. They are beautiful. I am lucky, because my fil almost tossed them

out. I don't even need to use oil most times for eggs. :hi:

[GOPisEvil]

19. What are we cooking?

It all depends on what's being cooked and how.

If you are concerned about Teflon out-gassing, only cook over medium heat. Out-gassing occurs at temperatures over 500 degrees, IIRC.

[Burma Jones]

21. Cast Iron, either traditional black or Le Cruset

I have Stainless for sautees

I have a Wok and a stove with enough BTUs to use it.

[malta blue]

24. cast iron or copper. eom

[ChairmanAgnostic]

25. only problems with copper are

tarnish
too rapid cooling when food is added. Conductivity is too high.
Cast iron, once heated, maintains the perfect level of temps.

[patcox2]

26. Aluminum-clad stainless.

Better yet, copper-aluminum-stainless triple layer.

Stainless is the only thing that you can let touch all your food. Even cast iron will stain some foods and interfere with processes with others.

I am a little afraid of aluminum-alzheimers link, though my deodorant probably provides all the harm I need. Anodized aluminum is good, though, and if yours isn't heating equally, its too thin, I find it spreads the heat nicely.

Hate teflon, I now suspect that I have been poisoned a dozen times or more while blackening and searing things over the years, just at the time I thought it was flu or a hangover or something.

[Floogeldy]

27. Le Creuset is great stuff (cast iron)

Terribly expensive, though.

[yellowdogintexas]

47. what do you do when the enamel chips off the inside of your

LeCreuset?

Still OK to use?

[Floogeldy]

49. The one I have only has enamel on the outside.

I don't think any has chipped off.

Actually, I do have one like you describe, but I don't use it (or didn't know how to use it - - - see post below.

Mine were bought in the mid-80's, and have a different name (Coussance, or something like that).

[smirkymonkey]

52. And terribly heavy.

I like Chantal personally.

[Starlight]

54. I'm a big LeCreuset fan, too.

I have a whole kitchen full. It's great stuff. :)

[BamaGirl]

28. I use cast iron and stainless steel

I love my cast iron. :D

[ChairmanAgnostic]

29. my ex used the stainless to go after me. dented it.

but I have a hard head.

For delicate crepes, I agree that stainless is great. butter, with a drop or three of a fine oil, a hot surface, and sizzzzzzzzzz. perfect crepe.

but for most anything else, cast iron is tough to beat. If you ever see dark, hard Russian or Lithuanian rye or multigrain bread, (it looks like a brick and weighs about as much) add about an inch of oil to your cast iron skillet. get it hot. REAL hot. Then while the oil is heating, slice the bread thin, take a whole garlic (clean it) and get some sea salt. brown the bread in the hot oil, and take it out before it begins to smoke. Dry and cool on paper towels. Do the whole loaf. Trust me.

take a clove of garlic, and for each piece, rub about a half a large clove on each piece of bread. Sprinkle on salt. Slice Roma tomato, vadalia onion, and place on top.
HEAVEN.

Cast iron, however, is tough to find in stores.
But go into most shopping centers, and they have display, after display, after display of ever prettier, less functional and more expensive cookware. The cost of the packaging alone, plus the advertising reminds one of drug company payments in advertising for prescription drugs. At least in terms of the cost of manufacture.

When I look at those items, and compare it to my perfectly functional kitchen, I still prefer my large cast iron skillet.

I also have my now-deceased grandma's two-egg cast iron skillet. It can fit a hotdog, maybe three, and other small items, but it is over 80 yrs old, and it still is one of my favorites.
(she died in her 80s, and was one of the warmest, nicest and most intuitive women I knew. She was also a witch)

[BamaGirl]

31. Yep

but for most anything else, cast iron is tough to beat.

I use stainless for anything tomato based, or boiling potatoes. Everything else pretty much goes in the cast iron. I haven't really had a hard time finding cast iron though. The selection isn't as wide, but everywhere I've gone for it does have it.

[haydukelives]

30. Cast Iron

exclusively

[JanMichael]

32. Cast Iron or Stainless Steel. I want longevity.

As in FOREVER!!!!!!

[Canadian Socialist]

33. Enamel. Easy to clean

and cheap like borscht.

[Floogeldy]

34. But doesn't food stick to enamel like crazy?

?

[Canadian Socialist]

37. I have never had a problem

With enamel. It holds the heat very well, so you can use a lower stove setting to cook. The trick is to heat the pan first (for frying, say), then turn it down to actually cook. For pots, I find it boils water much faster. So, you are using less electricity/energy. Maybe it's because my set is over 30 years old and might be of better quality (?) than ones made today.

[Floogeldy]

50. I think I screwed up.

I probably didn't know how to use the pan and got it way too hot.

I'll have to pull it out and try again someday soon. Thanks

:)

[sendero]

35. Finally....

.... an easy question. Cast iron, hands down.

No health issues, holds heat (you do have to take that into account) easy to care for (season it once properly and you are done) and will last FOREVER.

What more could you want? :)

[Redstone]

36. No real cook is going to dispute your preference for cast iron.

Redstone

[Oeditpus Rex]

38. Aw, man

I've been doin' gearhead chat. Thought this thread was about pistons. :blush:

[Syncronaut Seven]

39. Cast Iron,, hands down. Aluminum is toxic, so is teflon

Cast iron actually supplements your diet.

[ForrestGump]

41. SOteric knows!

Maybe she'll catch this thread. She is a culinary goddess.

[Broken_Hero]

42. cast iron is my favorite...

but I'd settle for stainless steel as my second...:)

[libnnc]

43. I'm a purist. Cast iron.

I have three. They're all I use.

[Nikia]

45. We got conned into buying expensive cookware

The brand is Royal prestigue. It is basically aluminum and stainless steal. The stainless steel is on the outer layers so that the aluminum is neither directly heated nor exposed to the food that you are eating. It supposedly heats more efficiently so that high heat is not necessary. I suppose that it is alright, but it was way too expensive. We would probably not buy it now, but after listening to their presentation, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

46. Teflon is for pansies...

And unless you're a lot bigger and tougher than I am, I dare you to say otherwise.

Actually, you could be smaller and weaker than I am, as I'm a notorious coward.

[yellowdogintexas]

48. I have a mix of many things.

some teflon, some not, aluminum steamer, cast iron for cornbread baking,
somehow I got out of the habit of using my cast iron and donated it to a worthy cause. I think the weight was getting to my wrists. The one I use for cornbread was my mother in law/s and I love it.

[lovelaureng]

51. My advice for what it's worth.

Throw out the teflon pan. Don't ever use teflon again in your life.
Get rid of the aluminum pan. Use the cast iron only.
The other alternative is to get a stainless steel pan. These seem to work well enough for us in the kitchen. We used cast iron pans for years before switching to the stainless.

[leftofthedial]

53. depends on what I'm cooking

I have and use all three.

[DainBramaged]

56. Microwave, my best friend.

[Kali]

57. stainless pots, cast iron skillets, misc. glass casseroles

and pie/cake pans.

wish I could find a decent plain stainless cookie sheet (or 2 or 3)- not double layered, not tefloned, not crappy sheet metal

[vajraroshana]

58. cast iron and stainless steel

I'd like one of those nice large enamel dutch ovens, but at $100+, I'll just keep it on my wish list.